PORTLAND – Supporters of a proposed Indian casino in Sanford launched a television advertising campaign Monday that casts the project as a “once in a lifetime economic opportunity” for Maine.

The three 30-second spots claim that the casino will create 10,000 jobs and generate $10 million in tax revenue that will be used to support education and help reduce property taxes.

“We want the people of Maine to watch these commercials and think about it,” said Erin Lehane, spokeswoman for Think About It, the pro-casino group. She said the ads are targeted at the concerns of Maine’s working people.

One ad features comments in support of a casino from five people, including a Sanford businessman, a Portland woman seeking permanent employment and the chief of the Penobscot Nation.

Lehane said the ads would be running in all the state’s TV markets, but the duration of the campaign has yet to be decided. She declined to provide a cost figure for the initial television campaign.

The ads were prepared by a Washington, D.C., agency.

Casinos No, the group opposing the project, characterized the claims made in the ads as “preposterous.” It said the source cited for the claims is a consultant’s report paid for by the proponents themselves.

Dennis Bailey, spokesman for the opponents, said his group has no idea when it will begin putting ads on television.

“There’s no way we’re going to match them,” he said. “We don’t have that kind of money.”